Charming
by NeverlandAwaits
Summary: "Brawly, I know you're in there." His stomach did a flip and he forced it to stay calm as he emerged from the bushes. He was met with the stern face he had since become so familiar with. He grinned and scratched his neck – a nervous habit of his that he despised.


**Hey! This is my first shot at these two, so here you go! I hope you like it!**

* * *

Brawly watched as Roxanne paced in front of her gym, also known as the Trainer's School, her forehead creased in thought. He didn't dare go up to her, not when he had no idea what she was thinking about. No, instead he was crouching in the bushes like some madman stalker, like a few of the female trainers he occasionally spotted outside his own gym.

"Brawly, I know you're in there."

His stomach did a flip and he forced it to stay calm as he emerged from the bushes. He was met with the stern face he had since become so familiar with. He grinned and scratched his neck – a nervous habit of his that he despised.

"Heya, Roxanne. Fancy seeing you here…"

This was met with another glare.

"Not only is it strange that you're here at all, but it's even stranger that you're hiding in the bushes," Roxanne said, prodding his chest with her finger every chance she could.

Brawly snorted. "Gym leaders can, and do, visit each other whenever they want, Roxanne."

"Sure, fine, but why are you here?"

"Why are you pacing out the front of your gym?"

"Answer my question."

"Only when you answer mine."

"I asked first."

"Fine…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm here to tell you about the next gym leader gathering. It's happening next Saturday."

Roxanne scowled. "You could have just rung me about that, you know. It would have saved us this whole argument."

What Roxanne said was true, however Brawly had his own intentions for seeing his fellow gym leader in person. Over the past year or so, his affection for her had increased. Whenever he saw her, it was like dustox's were filling his stomach and flying about. He was convinced that his red cheeks and beating heart were a fever, maybe a disease. This worked for the first few times, but then he had to admit the fact that he was feeling the sensation of a crush. A crush on _Roxanne_, of all people. The girl who was stubborn, obsessive, and arrogant. Fantastic.

"Besides," Roxanne continued, "that gives you no reason to be hiding in the bushes like that, you know. Someone could mistake you for a creeper. Why were you in there anyway?"

_Think fast, Brawly, think fast._

"Well… Um, you were pacing back and forth and I didn't want to disturb you," he defended. "I mean, you know how you get when you're angry…"

That was definitely not the right thing to say.

"What do you mean by that?" Roxanne screeched.

Instead of telling her the truth, Brawly turned to humour. "Girl, look at your life, look at your choices."

Roxanne held her head in her hands. "I do not have the time nor the patience for this!"

And with that, she stormed back inside her headquarters, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

As the door crashed behind her, Roxanne was met with the curious faces of her students. She stared at them and they stared back until she finally regained her composure. With her head held high, she sauntered up to the front of her classroom.

She turned to her students and cleared her throat. "Alright, students, where were–"

"Why were you yelling?" a young girl said, her hand straight up in the air.

Roxanne laughed nervously. "I wasn't yelling. It must have been someone down the road. Now–"

A young boy interrupted her. "It was definitely you. I'd recognise your voice anywhere!"

Before Roxanne could answer, the door opened and Brawly stepped in. Instead of the surfer atmosphere that she had come to expect from him, he had something in his posture and expression that told her he was uncomfortable.

Then she got an idea that would stop the interrogation from her students.

"Hey, Brawly!" she said, laughing as she walked over to him. She grabbed onto his wrist and hissed, "Play along, surfer boy."

Brawly, who had been half-heartedly resisting her grip, stopped struggling and let himself be dragged up to the front of the classroom. Roxanne smiled sweetly at him (a very forced one, mind you), and acknowledged her class once again.

"Alright, students. I'm sure you know who my friend Brawly is, right? Hands up if you know!" she said.

She let go of Brawly's wrist, even though she was hesitant to do so. Starting from when the two had first met, she had slowly developed an attraction for her fellow gym leader. She hadn't wanted to, oh no. It got in the way of her learning, teaching, and battling. Not only that, but she was horrible at relationships. At least she thought she was, having never experienced a relationship before. Most boys shied away from her once they found out that they came second to the rest of her passions.

One of the girls in the front row was the quickest to have her hand up. When Roxanne pointed to her, she said, "He's a gym leader."

Roxanne nodded. "Mhm, good, good. Which city is he from?"

"Ooh, ooh!" another girl called. "He's from Dewford City, right?"

"Excellent!" Brawly said, imitating the posh tone of voice Roxanne adopted whenever she was teaching.

Pretending to laugh along with the rest of the class, Roxanne said lightly, "You guys stay here while I talk to Brawly for a moment, please."

Leaving the class to their own devices, Roxanne pulled Brawly's sleeve and forced him into the preparation room just down the hall from her classroom. She shut the door behind her and gave an exasperated sigh, rubbing her temples to make her headache go away.

"Why the hell did you come back in?" Roxanne questioned once she had calmed down. As he started to answer, she continued, "You're lucky I could use you as an escape device, otherwise you would have been kicked out the door without a word. Now, tell me, why in the world did you think it was safe to enter my domain? I swear, Braw–"

* * *

Brawly was dead.

He was really dead.

He was really, really dead.

Last time he checked, he had been receiving a lecture from the girl of his dreams – which probably wasn't as full of disappointment as it was amusing – and the next thing he knew he was kissing her.

A second in, he was ready to retreat and attempt to apologise to Roxanne, but then he felt the kiss deepen. His eyes opened slightly from the shock, but then he too gave in completely. He snaked an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him while she brought one hand to his face and the other to his hair.

When air was needed, the two broke apart and stared at each other. Brawly was sure that his expression was the exact same as hers: wide-eyed, open mouthed, and eyebrows retracting all the way into the hairline. They stayed like that for a few seconds, both of them trying to figure out what had just happened, neither of them being able to find an answer.

Then came the bomb.

"Brawly, I swear! Oh, Arceus, what the hell was that? You can't just come into my gym, talk to my students, then drag me into this room and start kissing me!"

"Actually, the dragging was y–"

"Furthermore, why would you even think I would enjoy it? I mean, really, I'm not the kissing type, I'm more of the hugging type. Don't make assumptions about things I do and don't like, alright? Don't be a douche, because you know what goes well for you when you're a douche? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You can't just assume that you'll get your own way because you can charm a few girls!"

Brawly raised an eyebrow, previous embarrassment forgotten. "Oh, so now I've charmed you?"

This caught Roxanne off-guard. "W-What? No…"

"You sure about that?"

"Of course!"

Brawly feigned discontent, shrugged, and said, "I suppose you wouldn't want to go on a date with me after the gym leader meeting then."

He had just started to leave when he heard a, "No, wait!" from behind him. He smirked and whirled around.

"Yes?"

Roxanne's blush was one of the many things that Brawly found endearing, and he was happy to have caused it this time around. He was thinking that when she said, "O-Of course I'll go on a date with you."

With his last ounce of adrenaline, he gained the courage to kiss Roxanne on the cheek and mutter, "Can't wait," before racing out the door.


End file.
